History not kind for ruptured Achilles recovery

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The list ranges from stars in their prime like Elton Brand and Christian Laettner to role players like Stanley Roberts and Jeff Taylor, and everyone in between, and it does not paint a pretty picture for Matthews next season. On average, players returning from a ruptured Achilles saw their minutes per game average drop 27 percent from their last full season to their first following recovery. Not a single one of them averaged as many minutes as the previous season, and only Chauncey Billups, Laphonso Ellis and Dominique Wilkins even played 90 percent as much in their first full season back.

Wilkins is the obvious best-case scenario, as he kept a string of seven-straight All-Star game appearances alive in his return from the injury in 1992-93. He actually averaged more points in his first season back, improved his shooting, continued to get to the free-throw line, and barely saw dip in his rate stats. He stands out as the outlier, and is basically the only player to return from a ruptured Achilles at something close to his previous form.

On the worst-case scenario side of the ledger, Kobe Bryant stands out, though he was significantly older than Matthews at the time of his injury. Bryant famously played just six games in his return before a knee injury sidelined him for the season again. Billups was in and out of the lineup for a few months before being shut down as well upon his return. The injury also essentially ended the NBA careers of Voshon Lenard and Mehmet Okur, and Dan Dickau lasted just three more seasons as a role player, after averaging 29.4 minutes in an age-26 breakout.

All in all, players who returned from a ruptured Achilles didn't see a huge dropoff in their rate stats in their first season back, surprisingly. On the whole, these players' usage, rebound and assists rates generally stayed constant. However, their efficiency took a hit, as the collective dropped from 45.9 percent shooting to 40.9 on average. That could be the result of players settling for more 3-pointers as they tried to get their legs under them, as the average 3-point rate rose 21 percent.
 
If I was to look at the players on that list I think are like Wes, there aren't a bunch. Voshon, Chauncey, maaaaaybe Old K*be.
 
Odd that both Dominique and Gerlad suffered from the same injury. Like one year apart... Yikes
 
I was already depressed about Wes and then I clicked on this thread.....ugh
 
So, was this how you were trying to get over your depression of this, Sly?
 
And out of those 7, 5 were soft as fuck! Matthews has more heart and desire than anyone on that list!
 
One thing that I think works in Wes' favor is the fact that his game isn't built around being a leaper. If he can keep that quick step-back 3 point shot going, he'll still be a valuable player. The area where he could have a big challenge is the quickness that his defense depends upon. I really feel for the guy. He had earned the chance to get a near-max deal. I don't know exactly how this impacts his market value, but it can't be good.
 
No matter how this pans out, we can always park him in the corner to shoot 3s...(Nate McMillan style) but seriously, I think if anybody can come back from this, it's the ironman
 
I also think this injury makes a hell of a case for getting rid of back to back games
 
I think this will affect his deal by $2-3 million per year. I see him as an $8-9m/year guy right now.
 
I hate the word ruptured. And I hate the fact that Mathews got hurt. Nobody here is allowed to use that word again.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
I think this will affect his deal by $2-3 million per year. I see him as an $8-9m/year guy right now.
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Not to take exception with your post, I have seen lots of people bantering back and forth about how this will effect the value of his next contract. I just dont understand the fixation..we as fans are not paying the tab, how ever million wes gets is not really going to have much bearing on cap space..fact is that I expect us to be way over in order to keep this team together, This is the Blazers in win mode, not last decades Clip show.

Wes is not Oden..Wes will earn every penny he gets
 
DaLincolnJones said:
Not to take exception with your post, I have seen lots of people bantering back and forth about how this will effect the value of his next contract. I just dont understand the fixation..we as fans are not paying the tab, how ever million wes gets is not really going to have much bearing on cap space..fact is that I expect us to be way over in order to keep this team together, This is the Blazers in win mode, not last decades Clip show.

Wes is not Oden..Wes will earn every penny he gets
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more. Wes is invaluable to the Blazers.
 
Fuck this shit sly, you can make a case either way, this is just some negative darkness.

Embrace the light!
 
I think age plays a big part. THere's a reason why Shaq retired after his injury, he was old and fat.

Oh and sly?

 
You don't lose your shooting touch from an Achilles tear. He will be fine. May have to adapt to a slower brand of basketball to accommodate his injury, but he will still be very effective. He isn't Kobe, who's been in the league for 19 years.
 
Honestly I thought we'd lost Wes earlier when he hyper extended his knee..that was a bad looking injury but he came back..maybe too soon? I think Wes will be a fine sideline coach throughout the playoffs even if he can't play, he can still lead and be vocal. Gee looked really good against the Mavs..he's going to help.
 
This will sure screw up his up and coming pay day.
 
There are worse things in this world than only getting a raise from 6 million to 9 million, instead of 12 million.

I'm just not thinking the money lost is as big a factor to Wes as everyone is making it out to be, I'd bet he'd trade all that money for a healthy Achilles straight up.
 
Blazer fans have first-hand experience with a player coming back from this injury and playing effectively. Arvydas Sabonis ring a bell?
 
e_blazer said:
Blazer fans have first-hand experience with a player coming back from this injury and playing effectively. Arvydas Sabonis ring a bell?
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and unfortunately we have Greg Oden and Broy and others on the down side of that
 
e_blazer said:
Blazer fans have first-hand experience with a player coming back from this injury and playing effectively. Arvydas Sabonis ring a bell?
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Scary example. Sabas went from the best 7 footer in the world and athletic to a super skilled but crippled basketball player.
 
Draco said:
Scary example. Sabas went from the best 7 footer in the world and athletic to a super skilled but crippled basketball player.
Click to expand...

Also had his operation in the 80's, in the Soviet Union. I'm sure they were using rusty hacksaws and vodka for the procedure.
 
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